Mark Juergensmeyer: Week 4

I really loved hearing what he had to say. He had seen so much on site with the Sept. 11 happenings. It was such a great view and perspective on the situation that day. He talked about how religion guides most people in their everyday lives. Which is very true. I agree with him, that religion should teach us and guide us, but our common sense, and hopefully our knowledge of right versus wrong, will help lead us to make correct choices for our religion.

Killing innocent people, I believe, would never be a choice for the Lord. How can we justify that we are doing something right, when taking someone else's life is that choice that we're making. Whatever higher ruler we believe in, they should never ask us to kill. It was them that gave us life, so why should we have the right to take it away.

I'm sure we all agree that that day should never have happened. So many innocent killed. Innocent is the key word. Why did they feel they could take away the lives of INNOCENT people? I couldn't imagine dying myself, for my religion. I would die before I DENY my religion, but I would not commit suicide and then take other people down with me. That just does not seem to fit with the higher law or principles that my God teaches me. I know I don't know much about other religions, but that does not seem to agree with God's plan.

But the best comment was when the guy from the audience had the gall to ask him if his daughter was married to the guitarist of the Foo Fighters. This man had an hour (I'm sure more) of intelligent things to say about the "Terror in the Mind of God," and he asked such a "simple" question. It did get a great laugh though.